From Kerrang!
Quote:
Official: John Frusciante quits the Chili Peppers
Following reports earlier this week, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has confirmed that he has left the band in order to concentrate on his solo career.
“When I quit the band, over a year ago, we were on an indefinite hiatus,” says John in an official statement. “There was no drama or anger involved. They are supportive of my doing whatever makes me happy and that goes both ways.
“I really love the band and what we did,” he continues. “I understand and value that my work with them means a lot to many people, but I have to follow my interests. For me, art has never been something done out of a sense of duty. It is something I do because it is really fun, exciting, and interesting. Over the last 12 years, I have changed, as a person and artist, to such a degree that to do further work along the lines I did with the band would be to go against my own nature. There was no choice involved in this decision. I simply have to be what I am, and have to do what I must do.”
John left the band once before in 1992 – the then 22-year-old guitarist quit the band on May 8 following a show at Tokyo’s Club Quattro, citing that he couldn’t handle the Hollywood foursome’s rise to fame following the release of their 1991 breakout album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. He rejoined the group in 1998 to record the band’s seventh album Californication following a lengthy addiction to drugs.